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Chapter 1

&'grave;His head isn't on straight.''

&'grave;It doesn't seem to fit. Maybe it's not his.''

''Dr. Fallon—''

Diane Fallon, director of RiverTrail Museum of Natural History, looked up from the work she was trying to finish to see the spectacle of Gary and Samantha, two university students, balancing between a ladder and a construction platform, holding the skull of a giant sloth tilted at an odd angle atop its fifteen-foot skeleton. She raked her gaze over the offending skull as Gary was trying to wire it in place. ''Wait a minute,'' she said.

Diane climbed the ladder to the platform to have a look at the problem. She glanced at her watch as she lay down on her stomach on the platform. It was late and she was tired. She inspected the bones and shook her head and pointed to the neck of the giant creature. ''You have the atlas on backward.''

''Are you sure?''

&'grave;Yes, Gary, I'm sure. Bones are like puzzle pieces. When they're put together right, they fit together perfectly. How do you think your head would fit if your neck was on backward?'' The other students giggled. ''Did you follow the diagram I gave you?''

''Yes... I thought we did. I already have it wired in place.'' He said this as if expecting Diane to say, &'grave;Well, then, I guess we'll just have to make the head fit, won't we?''

&'grave;The opening of the exhibit is tomorrow evening. Test or no test, we have to finish this display. You've known the schedule since the beginning of the semester. Lay the skull here on the platform, gently. Unwire the atlas and put it on correctly. Follow the diagram.''

''Ah, man,'' Gary whined.

Samantha looked close to tears. Diane could hear the frustration in their voices, but there was nothing else to do. The exhibit had to be finished and they were aware of the timeline.

Leslie, the third of the student threesome, looked at her watch as Diane stepped down off the ladder. ''It is getting late,'' she said.

''I realize this is terribly unfair.'' Diane pulled loose a piece of packing tape that had stuck to her slacks. &'grave;Normally, students get to ask fellow students which teachers are a bitch to work for, but I'm new at the museum and have no track record. You guys can spread the word. Do the work assigned, do it correctly and on time. I give only A's and F's. We miss the opening, it's an F.'' The three students' eyes widened in surprise. &'grave;You've already wired the entire postcranial skeleton and done a good job. Getting the head on straight won't take as long as you think.''

''Dr. Fallon, telephone.'' Andie, her assistant, brought the cordless phone from Diane's office. Diane took it and retreated across the room away from the grumbling students.

''Yes?''

''Diane, how are you?'' It was a voice she hadn't heard in three years, and she was surprised that the sound of it made her smile.

&'grave;Frank? Frank, I'm... fine. And you? It's been a while.''

&'grave;I'm good.'' He hesitated half a beat. ''I wrote you several letters.''

&'grave;I didn't receive them.''

&'grave;I didn't mail them.''

''Oh.''

''Could I take you to dinner?'' he asked. &'grave;There are some things I'd like to talk with you about.''

&'grave;I don't know. This is a bad time, Frank.''

He hesitated again. ''I hate to ask a favor of you over the phone.''

''A favor? What is it?'' Diane looked over at her students busily working on the sloth exhibit. She hoped she had sufficiently put the fear of God into them so that they wouldn't mess up again.

''I have a bone that may belong to a missing girl....''

Diane's voice caught in her throat. ''A bone? No,'' she said a little too roughly, almost choking on the words.

''No, what?''

Andie was standing in front of her, holding out two handfuls of artificial leaves. The interruption gave her mind time to think and her racing heart time to slow down.

''Hold on just a moment, Frank.'' Diane placed a hand over the mouthpiece and raised her eyebrows at Andie.

''They sent the wrong plants, Archaeopteris, but Donald insists we go ahead and use them. He says no one will know the difference.''

&'grave;That's why we're here—to teach them the difference. Tell him this is a museum of natural history, not a B-grade movie set—we have to be accurate.''

There was such a long stretch of silence on the phone that Diane thought he might have hung up. ''You still there?''

&'grave;But that's what you do,'' he said.

''Not anymore.''

&'grave;Look, this is off the record. It's only one bone.''

&'grave;I don't care. There are other bone experts you can take it to. Get them... One bone? You have only one damn bone? There's probably nothing I could do with that anyway.''

&'grave;It's half a bone, really. You can tell me if it's human.''

&'grave;If that's all you want to know, any decent osteology student can tell you that.'' If you can find one, she thought, watching hers fumble with the sloth. &'grave;But I can't do it.''

&'grave;It may belong to someone I know. I play poker with the missing girl's father. He's been my best friend since we were kids, and his daughter baby-sat Kevin. The police are treating this as a runaway, but the girl's parents are afraid her boyfriend has done something to her. Her brother found the bone in the woods behind her boyfriend's parents' home.''

In the woods, Diane thought. ''No.''

''Diane...''

&'grave;I have to go, Frank. I'm working with some students, and if they see me talking on the phone, they'll want to do it too. It's good to hear your voice again. It really is. Come by sometime.'' She hung up.

Diane stood still for a moment. Hearing Frank's voice was good. The tenor of it brought back past feelings—of warmth and passion. Why did he have to be talking about bones? She filled her lungs with air to clear her head, exhaled and went back to her students.

It was almost ten o'clock before the last person left. Diane was alone in the museum—but not completely alone. Jake Houser and Leonard Starns, the two night security guards, were making their rounds. And somewhere in the three-story structure the cleaning crew was hard at work.

Everything was almost ready for the reception the next evening—just a few odds and ends left. Diane walked among the exhibits representing North America in the Pleistocene. The skeleton of a huge Bison antiquus stood, as if on the ancient tundra, against the background of a restored mural of a grazing herd, oblivious to the Paleo-Indians hiding in the tall grass with their Clovis point-tipped spears.

The giant sloth turned out not to be the disaster she had feared. It stood majestic among prehistoric flora, head on straight, looking out at the skeleton of Mammothus columbi several feet in front of it. Something in the mammoth exhibit caught her eye. Archaeopteris leaves sprouting around the mammoth's feet. Donald, damn him, had put the wrong vegetation in anyway. He was such a willful... She stepped over the barrier rope carefully and took up the plants. A loud knock on the front doors brought her head up with a start.

She leaned over to look through the double doorway into the museum lobby. Jake appeared from the direction of the primate room.

&'grave;I'll get it, Dr. Fallon,'' he called out as he pressed the intercom button. ''The museum is closed,'' he said into the speaker.

&'grave;Hey, Jake, it's Frank.''

Frank Duncan. So he wasn't giving up. Diane heard the clank of keys in the door and their voices.

''Frank, what the hell you doing around here this late?''

''Checking up on your moonlighting. Might try it myself. You get to sleep a lot, I hear.''

She still couldn't see Frank, but Jake had turned so she could see his face. He was a lean-looking man, at home with a scowl, but a large grin pushed his deep frown lines upward.

&'grave;Dylan's great. You know he graduated? With honors. I have this cousin who's always bragging about his boys being first in our family to get a college education.'' Jake laughed. ''The twins went to community college. Dylan went to Harvard.''

Diane listened as Jake and Frank talked about Jake's son. She liked the normalcy of their conversation—so far removed from recent events in her life. Coming here to the museum was the right decision.

&'grave;What's he going to do now he's graduated?'' asked Frank.

&'grave;Looks like he's going to be accepted to Harvard Business School. They don't just take everybody right out of college, you know. Most of the time they wait till they've worked a bit. See who's rising to the top. I'm real proud of the boy.''

&'grave;What I can't figure,'' said Frank, ''is where he got his brains.''

&'grave;Not from his daddy, that's for sure. I told Carol it's a good thing he looks like me, or I'd be suspicious. How's your Kevin?''

&'grave;Growing. He's in eighth grade now. I'm glad I have a while before I have to start shelling out for college tuition.''

''I hear you there.''

''Diane Fallon here?'' asked Frank.

Jake turned and looked in her direction. &'grave;Yes, she's here.''

Diane was still standing underneath the huge tusks of the mammoth. She watched Detective Frank Duncan of the Metro-Atlanta Fraud and Computer Forensics Unit set down a briefcase at the door and cross the wide marble lobby into the Pleistocene room. He had the same handsomeness, the same smile, the same familiar face—perhaps just a little older than the last time she saw him.

''Nice,'' he said, reaching up and brushing the tips of his fingers along the bottom of a gigantic curved tusk. It reminded her of that Celine Dion song—&'grave;It's All Coming Back to Me Now.''

''Did these things used to roam the neighborhood?'' he asked.

''Up until about ten thousand years ago.''

''Long gone, eh?''

''A mere blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things.''

He stood under the head and tusks of the mammoth with her, his eyes searching her face. ''You look good. Damn good.''

Diane brushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. ''Too much time in the sun. My face is looking like parchment.''

Frank shook his head. &'grave;A few lines around the eyes and mouth only give you character. You're a little thin, maybe. Didn't they feed you in South America? You're all right, aren't you? Didn't pick up anything?''

&'grave;No, Frank, I didn't pick up anything. I'm fine.''

Frank tilted his head to one side, inspecting her wrist and arm. &'grave;A fellow I know came back from the Amazon and he had this insect bite on his arm that wouldn't go away. Swelled up, started itching and turned black. When he couldn't stand the itch any longer, he went to the doctor. The doctor thought it was a boil and started to lance it. Just as he touched the skin with his scalpel,'' Frank touched his finger gently to her forearm, ''the thing burst open and this big, black, ugly fly crawled out of his arm and flew off. Disgusting.'' He tickled her skin with the tips of his fingers.

Diane pulled her arm back reflexively, but smiled despite herself. &'grave;You haven't changed. What are you doing at the museum this late?''

His eyes were smiling again, searching her face. ''I just got off from work. I was passing this way.''

&'grave;Don't tell me that. You don't pass this place going anywhere.'' She stepped out of the exhibit, still holding the artificial leaves like an odd bouquet.

&'grave;It's been a couple of years....'' he began.

''Three years.''

''I wanted to see you. How about a late dinner?''

He was wearing jeans and a navy sweater and smelled like aftershave. He hadn't just stopped off from work. Diane wished she didn't feel so comforted by that realization. She lay the leaves next to the exhibit and dusted off her hands, aware that she must have the aroma of the day's accumulation of glue, paint and perspiration. &'grave;How about you telling me why you're really here?''

''I really came to see you. Talking with you got me worried about you. What happened? Why did you give up your career?''

''I changed jobs. People do that.'' Diane turned away from his gaze and started toward the Bison antiquus. &'grave;I need to check out the exhibits before I leave. We're having a preopening party for the contributors tomorrow evening.''

''Wait.'' Frank put a hand on her arm. &'grave;I want to know about you. What do you mean, you aren't a forensic anthropologist anymore? What happened in South America?''

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Boo

Every time i find an interesting book harriet klausner and other long winded plot revealing posters ruin it. NO ONE WANTS TO READ A BOOK AFTER YOU TELL EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS! STOP RUINING BOOKS FOR OTHER PPL!!!!!!! Z

9 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted July 25, 2008

Ah...another bone lady

While there may already be many books out there with forensic anthropologists as protaganists, this is one of the few books that I enjoy on the subject. This book has everything one could hope for: mystery, drama, tragedy, and of course its share of comedic moments. Not to mention touches of romance! All in all, a fine debut. I even went so far as to buy all of the books in the series. From Barnes and Noble of course! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, old mystery.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted October 10, 2009

I Also Recommend:

Forensics at it's best.

A good forensic thriller. Not too gory. Interesting forensic analysis to solve a mystery. As a Cornwell fan, it's hard to top but this book comes close. It was a good read.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted September 26, 2004

Beautiful - Well Done!!

Hardly put that book down! It's great story! If you like Patricia Cornwell, then you would like this one definitely!! Just bought her another book & can't wait to read it!!

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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cate529

Posted June 21, 2012

Enjoyed enough to buy the second book in the series

A good read. Found myself comparing Reichs to Connor. Reichs is harshly realistic. Connor softens her characters. She also puts them in kind of wacky situations. All in all I liked the book. I enjoyed her relationship with Frank and placing her as a museum director brings many interesting aspects and characters into play.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted February 27, 2004

Hard to put down!

Excellent start to this new series by Beverly Connor. I found the book hard to put down, and a quick read. Very good plot twist. If you like the Lindsay Chamberlain series, you will like the new Diane Fallon series as well.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted November 26, 2003

A fantastic new Forensic series!

Diane Fallon is a forensic anthropologist. Due to her troubled past, she has left that work to become the Director of the newly renovated River Trail Museum of National History in Georgia. The museum is to open to the public in a few weeks. Atlanta Detective Frank Duncan, her former lover, calls and asks her to examine a bone found in the woods. His friends, George and Louise, found a bone in the woods near their daughter Star's boyfriend's house. Star and the boyfriend are missing. They are worried it is her. Diane had promised herself that she would never examine bones again. But, since they are friends of Frank's, she does. She determines that the person was male. The museum has their opening party for contributors, board members, and invited guests. It is a hit. Frank gets called away because George, Louise, and their fourteen year old son Jay have been shot dead. The police believe Star did this. Frank does not and begins trying to prove that she didn't. Many unusual things begin occurring at the museum. They all appear to be an attempt to discredit Diane so that she would be unseated and the museum could be sold and relocated. She doesn't know why board member Mark Grayson is pushing so hard to relocate the museum when it has just been renovated. This is a terrific series. I have always liked her Lindsay Chamberlain series and I feel this is another winner! She goes into great detail with the forensic examinations, but never did I feel her descriptions were too graphic or gory. This made it much more enjoyable for me. Many of the forensic mysteries go too far. Diane is a well-crafted character and you don't find out too soon what she's all about. It is all laid out with perfect timing. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. I also feel that the setting of the museum was a great idea. Lends itself to many interesting situations and many wonderful characters. I highly recommend this book.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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daveruss33

Posted January 18, 2013

An unbelievable mystery writer!

I have just discovered Beverly Conner and cannot believe the incredible knowledge of so many fields that she displays. It has everything I look for in a good mystery: great research and knowledge, interesting characters and a plot that keeps you interested and guessing from beginning to end. It is not a constant run of filthy language, sex and drunkenness that cheapen so many of today's mysteries. It is one of the best books I have read and cannot wait to get into another of her books.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted October 7, 2003

A thrill a minute

After finding and excavating mass graves to prove that President Ivan Santos was a mass murderer, his thugs attacked the area they were living in. Forensic anthropologist Diana Fallon lost the child she planned to adopt and moved back to the United States to emotionally recover. After a year of mourning, she accepts the job of director of the River Trail Museum in Georgia.<P> However, Diana is unable to turn down her ex-lover¿s request to examine a bone that his close friend found. She inspects the bone and knows it is from a human being. Diana asks Frank to find out where they found it. Before he has a chance to do so, his friend, his friend¿s spouse and their son are killed. The police arrest their daughter who ran away from home and stole a valuable coin collection but Frank is sure she is innocent. Despite her better instincts, Diana is drawn into the hunt to find the killer, a decision that lands her and Frank in the hospital after several murder attempts.<P> Fans of Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell will definitely want to read ONE GRAVE TOO MANY, a crime thriller that is so exciting that readers will finish it in one sitting. The protagonist is an independent yet vulnerable woman who goes the extra mile for her friends and her lover even when it goes against her best interests. There are a surplus of suspects who could be behind the homicides and the attempted killings but it is almost impossible to figure out who it is until the last chapter. Beverly Connor is on the verge of superstardom.<P> Harriet Klausner

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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I really liked this author and story and am looking forward to t

I really liked this author and story and am looking forward to the entire series. In my opinion this is better than Patricia Cornwell whose herione was neurotic. Diane Fallon the heroine of this series is an adult and not whiny but steadfast, educational, funny, and very normal. The book has mystery, drama, tragedy, reality and I didn't figure out the murderer until he was unveiled at the end which is surprising because I'm usually pretty good at solving the crime. I'm voting five stars for this one.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted July 2, 2014

Glad I picked this up

I hesitated to pick up another series. I have so many going now I really didn't want to start another. I am glad I did. It started a little slow for me but when I got into it, I hated to put it down. I love forensics, and archeology, this is a good mix of both. I am ready to buy the rest of the series and have a long week of reading.

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Anonymous

Posted July 11, 2013

Enjoyable

A little slow at first, but very good once I got into it. Looking forward to more books in this series.

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FreedomLady

Posted February 19, 2013

New to the Diane Fallon Series

This was recommended by a friend and I have started "catching" up on Diane Fallon. I have become so determined to read them in order, that I had to stop while a used book is on its way. I loved the characters and enjoyed the drama! Right up there with Patricia Cornwell for mystery and edge of your seat drama. Couldn't put it down and then couldn't wait to read the next one.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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clcarr

Posted September 14, 2012

Recommended

Quite interesting..........I'm reading the series now. Disappointing that #5 isn't available on the nook because it's out of print. Had to purchase a used hard copy!

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Duvid

Posted August 15, 2012

The Author is totally awesome and I recommend that you read her books

The book came as you said it and it was not even damaged which I appreciate.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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Anonymous

Posted August 14, 2012

Real page turner....

Interesting from start to finish...

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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